James Dolan said on Wednesday, June 17 that the New York Knicks have received and accepted an invitation from President Donald Trump to visit the White House, and that the team is now working out the details.
“As a matter of fact, thank you for asking me that, we just did receive an invitation from the White House, which we accepted,” Dolan told reporters, adding: “We still have to figure out the details, et cetera, but yes, of course. Look, I invited the president to come down for the game. He is a friend. I’ve known him for 30 years and I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House.”
The announcement would mark the first time an NBA champion has visited the White House during the administration of President Donald Trump. Trump framed such visits as an honor, saying, “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” and in a separate line invoked a 2017 episode, declaring, “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”
That response echoed an earlier moment in September 2017 when Trump wrote that a Curry invitation was withdrawn amid public back-and-forth. Since then, five NBA champions crowned during Trump’s presidency declined White House visits: the Golden State Warriors after their 2017 title, the 2019 Toronto Raptors opted not to visit the White House or Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and the Los Angeles Lakers declined after the 2020 title. Other teams scheduled visits ran into conflicts — the Denver Nuggets’ 2023 trip was postponed for scheduling reasons — and the Oklahoma City Thunder declined after the 2025 Finals, citing scheduling conflicts.
The pattern shifted under the next administration: the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics have each visited the White House during President Joe Biden’s term, underscoring how visits have alternated with political tides and calendar pressures rather than a single, steady practice.
Dolan’s comments come less than two weeks after he sat alongside Trump in the owner’s suite on June 8 during New York’s 115-111 Game 3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs — the Knicks’ only defeat in the series — a meeting he referenced as part of the outreach that led to the invitation.
The decision produced immediate internal questions. Team officials must now decide which players will attend and when the trip will take place. That choice is complicated by differing views in the locker room: some players could welcome the ceremony, while others may be reluctant. The roster includes voices who have been openly political; the article notes that Josh Hart once used a derogatory term to describe Trump in a social media post after the 2020 election, a past comment that may shape how individual players respond to an official visit.
Those potential divisions matter for the optics of the trip. A full-team visit would be presented as a unified celebration of a championship; a partial delegation would signal that player decisions, not just scheduling, are shaping the outcome. Dolan has said only that the invitation was accepted and that details remain to be worked out — not who will go.
The immediate next step is practical: the Knicks and the White House must agree on a date and on which players and staff will make the trip. That scheduling discussion will determine whether New York’s visit becomes the first NBA champion appearance at the White House during Trump’s administration or whether it will be scaled, postponed, or split among delegates.
For now, Dolan has made the invitation public and framed the visit as imminent; the unresolved questions about timing and attendance will decide whether the moment becomes a singular team celebration or a contested political tableau.
